Poetry Analysis

"My Own Day"

By: Jean Little

Hey World, Here I am! (pg.56)

Jean Little is a Canadian author who was born in Taiwan ,but has been living in Canada since she was seven years old. She attended the University of Toronto and graduated with honours in English. Jean has never let the challenge of being blind stop her from achieving her goals and being a great writer. She writes her books and poems by using a talking computer that reads what she writes back to her. Jean currently lives in Guelph Ontario with her sister and many dogs. Her work is very light hearted, witty and enjoyable. Many of her poems are meant to make the reader laugh and others are meant to express emotion and make you think. 

Her poem "My own day" was published in 1986 and sends a message about how it is important to live in the moment, not the past and look forward to the future. This is referenced when she says

"So I stood and I considered"   

"Stopping the world right there"   

"Making today go on forever"    

"But I decided not to"      

I was intrigued by those lines because I can relate to the feeling she is trying to describe. I know that there have been many times where I have been enjoying myself and not wanting moments or days to end. Just because one day is great doesn't mean the next day won't be better if we decide to make it so. 

My favourite line from the poem is the last one which is 

"Who knows what you might be missing tomorrow" 

This line reassures the message that is being sent from the poem and it makes the reader feel positive and optimistic. This poem personally made me feel hopeful about the future after I read it.

Jean Little

The Right To Vote

I personally think that Canada's voting age is reasonable at eighteen. I understand that by the age of fourteen most teenagers get a job and by sixteen we learn to drive which are major responsibilities ,but voting for the future of our country is even more important. I am currently sixteen years old and I do not know very much about politics. If I had to vote in the past election I am not sure I would have made the right decision due to my lack of knowledge. Also, I believe that if the voting age was lowered to sixteen a lot of teens would not vote because they do not understand how important it is  or they just do not know who to vote for. When I am eighteen I will have reached adulthood and I think I will understand the issue that take place in our country and I will have more of an opinion on who should be the leader of our country. 

Your adaptable mind

I believe that I already have a good sense of curiosity. I enjoy learning new things that can help me to expand my mind and my knowledge. I am aware that learning never stops and I will continue to learn about new things for the rest of my life. A willingness to learn and curiosity towards new topics will only benefit me in the future when I go to university and when I go on to get a job. I think I could improve on my initiative and start to get things done to the best of my abilities. It is no secret that when I have to do something I do not want to do I don't give it my 100% effort. That is not a good habit to have and it is something that I need to improve on before I leave high school so that I am not stuck with that bad habit in university and in the working world. Improving my initiative and determination will help me to achieve the goal I have of getting a job that I will truly love.